‘ BH90210’ succeeds when it pokes fun
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Fox’s meta “Beverly Hills, 90210” quasi- revival, “BH90210” ( 9 p. m. Wednesday, WPGH- TV), is bananas. Would fans of the original want it any other way?
Just as the original “90210” could vary in its tone and style — in the early years viewers never knew what to expect from the series week to week; in later seasons it became a more straight- forward soap — “BH90210” offers a delicious, entertaining return fans will want to gorge themselves on at least initially.
The premiere leans heavily into comedy, spoofing the image of each of the show’s stars and the reputations they earned during the 19902000 run of the series and in the 19 years since the show ended. Episode two ends with a left turn into a horror movie vibe.
( The 2008- 13 sequel series, “90210,” that aired on The CW isn’t referenced in two episodes of “BH90210” made available for review.)
Developed by stars Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth and writers Chris Alberghini and Mike Chessler (“So Notorious”), “BH90210” features the show’s original cast members playing versions of themselves. And sometimes playing versions of themselves playing their original “90210” characters in dream sequences.
Spelling is a mom and reality TV star (“Tori & Nate: Spelling the Beans”) who’s always broke despite coming from immense wealth although her “BH90210” character is married to someone who is not Spelling’s real- life husband and frequent reality show co- star, Dean McDermott.
Brian Austin Green is married to a more- famous music star — in real life he’s married to the at- onetime more famous actress Megan Fox — and Ian Ziering is coming off “Sharknado” success that he’s trying to capitalize on with his wife.
“BH90210” is ready- made for watching with a remote in one hand and a smart phone in the other so viewers can Google to try to figure out which elements of the
story are real and which are fiction, a purposeful muddle of ripped- from- the- tabloids mirror- image plots and straight- up fiction.
It’s a lot to juggle, and already in episode two when actress Christine Elise, who played Brandon’s ( Jason Priestley) love interest Emily Valentine on the original, shows up inexplicably as a Fox executive, you can already start to feel the wheels preparing to come off the bus.
The smartest decision was to center “BH90210” on the likeable Spelling — she wants to do a “90210” revival to pay her bills — who seems to be the most willing to poke fun at herself. If Carteris is the schoolmarmish, mother hen of the “90210” gang, Spelling is its deftly daffy, comedic heart.
Wednesday’s premiere strikes a tone that feels right even if it’s sometimes reminiscent of “The Bradys” — in a good way! This first hour manages to be nostalgic, screamingly funny and even heartfelt with a tribute to the late Luke Perry, who died of a stroke before production on “BH90210” began earlier this year.
There’s less reason for optimism that “BH90210” can maintain that tricky balance after the inferior, often dull second episode.
ABC’s fall plans
ABC’s efforts to promote its new fall series at the Television Critics Association summer 2019 press tour hit a road bump Sunday when “Rookie” star Afton Williamson — she played Talia Bishop, the training officer partnered with John Nolan ( Nathan Fillion) — announced she quit the show after she said she experienced sexual harassment and racial discrimination by members of the show’s hair department and sexual harassment by a recurring guest star. She took her concerns to showrunner Alexi Hawley, who she said did not report the incidents to human resources.
On Monday ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke said she awaits the results of an independent, third- party investigation of Williamson’s allegations.
Stumping for ‘ Stumptown’
An entertaining new procedural drama, ABC’s “Stumptown” ( 10 p. m. Sept. 25, WTAE- TV) stars Cobie Smulders as Dex Parios, a bisexual Portland, Ore., private detective with a complicated love life and PTSD from her time as a military operative in Afghanistan.
The series is based on a graphic novel of the same name, and producers said the show will aim to meld serialized character relationships with procedural cases. That includes the relationship between damaged Dex and an Indian tribal leader, Sue Lynn Blackbird ( Tantoo Cardinal). Dex dated Sue Lynn’s son, who died in combat.
“The most tragic defining event in Dex’s life is also the most tragic defining event in Sue Lynn’s life,” explained executive producer Jason Richman at an ABC press conference during the Television Critics Association summer 2019 press tour. “Sue Lynn is a power broker in the city, and she’s not a stereotypical character. … She may find herself on the opposite side of something Dex is working on, and they may need each other, and then there’s always this complicated past at play, and that’s how the serialization and the procedural can work together in the show.”